IITs fix minimum percentage for entrance tests

New Delhi: IIT aspirants will have to score a minimum required percentage in each subject in their entrance tests which will help them beat tension, the Joint Admission Board of the premier institutes said.

From 2012 candidates must score "at least 10 per cent in each subject and 35 per cent in aggregate in order to be in the common rank list", said Prof G B Reddy of IIT-Delhi. Till last year, the averages were decided on performance from paper to paper and through cut-offs based on a complex process. "We felt that the system created a lot of tension in the minds of students about the percentage they need to score.Therefore, to put an end to this, we have declared the minimum percentage they need to score," he said.

This will help them get relieve of the tension and maximise their scores to secure a good rank in the entrance," he added. Admission to undergraduate courses in the 15 IITs is done through a Common entrance test known as Joint Entrance Examination conducted by the board. The decision to fix the minimum percentage was taken at the joint admission board meeting here on Wednesday. The board is the nodal agency for conducting the exams across the country.

The board decided to provide relaxation the percentages in case of OBC candidates and SC and ST students. "Candidates of OBC category must score at least 9 per cent in each subject and 31.5 per cent in aggregate to be in the OBC rank list," said a statement issued by IIT-Delhi.

Likewise, candidates of SC and ST categories must score at least 5 per cent in each subject and 17.5 per cent in aggregate to be in their respective rank lists."The new policy measure announced is a good decision for selecting the right kind of candidates," said director of FIIT-JEE C V Kalyan Kumar, adding it would mostly help candidates who are serious about cracking the IIT test and holding a good rank.ers to 4-6 per household in a year as it is politically sensitive decision, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said on Wednesday.

"The Empowered Group of Ministers is yet to meet to take a view on the proposal to restrict the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders," he told the Economic Editors Conference here. "It is political sensitive decision until we persuade the people more, we cannot take unpleasant decisions," he said.

A meeting of the EGoM headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was called on September 16 but had to be postponed as ruling party allies, Trinamool Congress and DMK, opposed the move. Ministers of the two party in the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government are part of the EGoM.

Reddy said no new date for the EGoM meeting has been set. As per the proposal mooted by Reddy`s ministry, every household was to get only 4-6 LPG cylinders at subsidised price of Rs 395.35 in Delhi and they will have to pay market price of Rs 666 per cylinder for any requirement beyond that.The limited supply of subsidised LPG would be for those who own a car, two-wheeler, house or figure in the income-tax list.

Each 14.2-kg bottle of LPG normally lasts a household 45-60 days and based on this calculation a maximum of six cylinders are considered enough to see a family through the year. At present, records of LPG distributors of public sector companies shows that a vast number of households are taking as many as 20 to 30 cylinders per household each year.

This suggests that large scale diversion of subsidised cooking gas is taking place for use in commercial establishments, such as restaurants and dhabas and as auto fuel. LPG for commercial use is sold at the market price and packed in different cylinders.

Reddy said limiting supply of subsidised LPG cylinders would have helped cut down about Rs 25,000 crore of losses that state-owned oil firms incur now on selling the fuel at government controlled rates. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum lose about Rs 67 crore per day on selling domestic LPG below cost.